The Beauty of Gemina
| The Beauty of Gemina | |
|---|---|
 The Beauty of Gemina at the Nocturnal Culture Night Festival (2018) |
|
| General information | |
| origin | Switzerland |
| Genre (s) | Synth rock , dark rock , alternative rock , electronica , dark wave |
| founding | 2006 |
| Website | www.thebeautyofgemina.com |
| Founding members | |
| Michael Sele | |
| Current occupation | |
Vocals, guitar , keyboard, synthesizer
|
Michael Sele |
| Mac Vinzens | |
| Andi Zuber (since 2014) | |
| Ariel Rossi (since 2016) | |
| Markus Stauffacher (since 2017) | |
| former members | |
bass |
Martin Luzio (until 2008) |
bass |
David Vetsch (2009 to 2013) |
bass |
Dave Meier (2013 to 2014) |
Live guitarist |
Dennis Mungo (until 2013) |
guitar |
Marco Gassner (2013 to 2015) |
guitar |
Simon Ambühl (2015 to 2016) |
The Beauty of Gemina is a music group by Liechtensteiner Michael Sele, which was founded in 2006.
history
The Beauty of Gemina was formed after Michael Sele's old band, the Wave formation Nuuk , broke up. With the debut album "Diary of a Lost" the rise in the music scene began. The band achieved a number 1 hit in the World Gothic Charts with the song "Suicide Landscape" . A video clip was subsequently shot on the San Bernardino Pass for this hit, which was also able to establish itself in the discos . The video was in the daily rotation of Swiss television and was also played on VIVA .
In the spring of 2008 The Beauty of Gemina played in the Zurich Hallenstadion as support for Smashing Pumpkins . In May, an appearance at the Wave Gotik Treffen in Leipzig followed. After a tour with the German rock band ASP and a few concerts in England, their second album "A Stranger to Tears" was released in 2008. It was released in Switzerland under the band's own label tBoG Music , in Germany and Austria the long player is distributed by Danse Macabre . “This Time” was selected for a video clip that was broadcast again on VIVA Switzerland and Swiss television. “A Stranger to Tears” stayed in the German Alternative Charts for eight weeks and was number 3 for three weeks.
The Beauty of Gemina made the song "Sacrificed to the Gods" from their third album available for download for free at the end of 2009. On March 26th 2010 the band released their third long player "At the End of the Sea". The cover and other recordings without the band members were made by the British photographer Melanie Clarke. Manuel Vargas shot the band's PR photos in Hamburg. A clip was shot for the title "Rumors", for which the band worked with the director Can Isik.
In 2010 the band signed with Universal Music Switzerland. In spring 2011, The Beauty of Gemina toured Germany with Unheilig . During the tour, film recordings were made which were processed into live clips. In August, The Beauty of Gemina performed at the M'era Luna Festival 2011. On January 13, 2012, the fourth album "Iscariot Blues" was released. In February 2013 the acoustic album "The Myrrh Sessions" was released, which mainly reinterprets existing pieces.
On February 21, 2014, another album, "Ghost Prayers", was released. The performance at the M'era Luna Festival in the summer of the same year was broadcast by the German TV station Eins Plus Live. "Mariannah" and "Darkness", two songs from this album, were visually interpreted by the director Can Isik.
The concerts across Europe ended with an acoustic tour (guest musicians: Eva Wey - violin and Raphael Zweifel - cello), which culminated in the Moods jazz club in Zurich and was released on CD, DVD and Blu-ray. "Live at Moods - A Dark Acoustic Night" was staged by the director Marcello Naef.
In 2015 "Anthology Vol 1", a summary of studio recordings and live songs, was released as a long player. On this CD there are both rock and acoustic songs, with the shortened version of "Darkness" being the acoustic piano version.
Likewise, in 2015, the second edition of Michael Sele's book - The Beauty of Gemina Lyrics from 2007 to 2014 was published, a complete collection of all original song lyrics with German translation by Sylvia Stürzer-Frick. The book is enriched with many previously unpublished photos.
The cover version of "Crossroads" (originally by Calvin Russell) was released on May 27, 2016 as a pre-single for the upcoming album "Minor Sun". So far, the video filmed and produced by Tonio Krüger (Mauve Pictures Filmproduktion) has received 7 international awards and 3 nominations for best music video.
On September 2, 2016, The Beauty of Gemina's latest work, "Minor Sun", was released on CD and double LP. In Switzerland, the album was number 25 in the charts and number 2 in the German Alternative Charts. The concept and art design of the album, as well as the renewal and further development of the band logo were developed by Mario Frick and Janto Lenherr (neuland.li) . The cover photo was taken by the Belgian photographer Sanne de Wilde. "Minor Sun - Live in Zurich" was released on March 17th, 2017 as a double CD, DVD and Blu-ray under the direction of Lukas Hambach Frameshock Productions.
In spring 2017 The Beauty of Gemina gave their first concerts in South America. Mexico, Guadalajara and São Paulo were on the tour schedule. An acoustic tour through Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein followed in autumn 2017. The guest musicians Eva Wey - violin, Raphael Zweifel - cello and from Reykjavik the saxophonist Eyjólfur Þorleifsson were there.
Before the 8th studio album "Flying with the Owl" was released on October 12, 2018, The Beauty of Gemina was on a successful tour through Germany and Switzerland. In addition to the classics such as Into Black or Darkness, the set list also contained 10 songs from the new album by "Michael Sele". Guest musicians, both in the studio and on the tour, were: Eva Wey on the violin and Raphael Zweifel on the cello. On October 18, 2018, the album reached number 12 in the iTop Alternative Music Album Charts via iTunes Store Switzerland.
Michael Sele received the Gonzen Culture Prize in autumn 2019 for his work as a musician, composer and singer. At the beginning of this year, the well-known German actress Katharina Thalbach realized the much-acclaimed musical stage reading “Shadows above nothing” and premiered at renowned Swiss theaters.
On May 28, 2020 "Flying with the Owl SOLO" was released. Only voice and guitar, Michael Sele sings 4 songs from the last studio album.
style
music
The band mixes elements from synth rock , dark rock , metal and electronic music. Occasional influences from the techno / trance area ("Victims of Love", "Shadow Dancer" and "Galilee Song") as well as from the Gothic-Rock and Dark-Wave environment (guitar on "This Time") that already shaped the sound of Michael Sele's predecessor band Nuuk . Classical elements were incorporated into many of the songs. In “Victims of Love” you can find a sample from a Mozart composition from the first album . With the third album “At the End of the Sea”, The Beauty of Gemina changed stylistically and guitars that were reminiscent of the wave and post-punk sounds of the 1980s (e.g. “Obscura "," Rumors "and" Narcotica ") and based on 1990s alternative rock (e.g." Black Cat Nights "and" Counting Tears "). Nevertheless, the connection between different genres of rock and electronic dance music has remained one of the main characteristics of The Beauty of Gemina. For example, in “King's Men Come”, “Narcotica” and “La Mer - Rythme Eternel” rhythm elements from trip-hop and breakbeat can be found , while “In Silence” draws on a Roland TR-909 bass drum that is typical for techno . On the fourth studio album Iscariot Blues, songwriter Michael Sele allows elements from blues, folk and country to flow into the compositions for the first time on pieces such as “Badlands” or “Dark Revolution”. The follow-up album The Myrrh Session then relies on complete reduction and various songs are reinterpreted in an acoustic guise. Ghost Prayers combines the two sound worlds of the earlier, rockier and more electronic albums with the new acoustic sounds. The epic, almost 12 minutes long “Darkness” underlines this development. In 2016, Minor Sun was released, a dark, spherical work, which is characterized by long songs. Michael Sele also draws on stylistic elements from the first albums, on which repetitive elements were used as a formative stylistic device.
Texts
Michael Sele's texts deal with topics such as suicide, depression, loneliness and lovesickness. He also criticizes the Catholic Church with “Victims of Love” and the “Galilee Song”, which was available as a free download at Easter 2009. One feature that has a decisive influence on the “Gemina sound” is the numerous repetitions in the lyrics. Classic lyrics with verses and choruses are rare.
Publications
|
Chart positions Explanation of the data |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Albums | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Studio albums
- 2007: Diary of a Lost
- 2008: A Stranger to Tears
- 2010: At the End of the Sea
- 2012: Iscariot Blues
- 2013: The Myrrh Sessions ( acoustic album )
- 2014: Ghost Prayers
- 2016: Minor Sun
- 2018: Flying with the Owl
- 2020: Flying with the Owl SOLO ( EP )
Compilation and live albums
- 2015: Anthology Vol 1
- 2015: Live at Moods - A Dark Acoustic Night
- 2017: Minor Sun - Live in Zurich
Video albums
- 2008: Pictures of a Lost
- 2015: Live at Moods - A Dark Acoustic Night
- 2017: Minor Sun - Live in Zurich
Music videos
- 2006: Suicide Landscape
- 2008: This Time
- 2008: Into Black
- 2010: Rumors
- 2010: Galilee Song
- 2012: Stairs
- 2013: Dark Rain
- 2013: Mariannah
- 2014: Darkness
- 2016: Crossroads
- 2017: Silent Land
- 2018: Ghosts
- 2019: River (Lyric Video)
- 2020: The World Is Going On (Lyric Video)
- 2020: Acoustic Set Solo 2020
- 2020: Apologize
swell
Web links
- Official website
- The Beauty of Gemina at Discogs (English)
- Interview with Michael Sele - The Beauty Of Gemina - Negative White (August 2016)
- Interview with Michael Sele - The Beauty of Gemina - Volksblatt.li (September 2016)